Tow Vehicle for 22,000 Pounds Plus
Is anyone towing 22,000 lbs. plus? If so, what are you towing with? Which rear end, what kind of mileage do you get? Do you have any tips? Have you pulled in the mountains, any problems? Thanks s...
Forum Discussion
transamz9 wrote:
First off, I do have an effective 6 speed.
Not if you're locked in 5th when towing, which by your own admission you are.
transamz9 wrote:
As far as what I'm saying about the 3.73. I am just assuming here but I was thinking that the OP is looking at DRW trucks here. When you look on here Ram Bodybuilder Clicky, a Ram DRW Crew Cab with Aisin and 3.73 gear has a GCVWR of 33,800# and a Max trailer weight of 25,010 #. Now I didn't go to all the big name schools but simple math says that truck will have ZERO problems handling a 22,000# camper. Yes the truck with the 4.10 has even more capacity but so does a HDT/MDT.
Yes, it's sufficient per the ratings, but some of us prefer more operating margin when towing as heavy as the OP states. That's what the 4.10s offer.
transamz9 wrote:
I know people say that there ain't much difference in fuel mileage but I'm here to tell you there is. I have test driven brand new trucks set up exactly the same right down to the radios back to back running the exact same routes with the two gear ratios we are talking about and when you figure I personally saw 2 MPG difference (14-16) I'm not going to be easily persuaded to think otherwise.
Fuel consumption when towing is far more complex than being directly proportional to final drive ratio. To predict whether a particular axle ratio would have better or worse fuel economy at a given speed, one would have to have access to a full brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc) map for the engine across its full speed and load spectrum. Optimum bsfc is often lower in the engine's RPM range than the torque peak (also the bmep peak) or horsepower peak.
In theory, pulling the same trailer, your truck locked in 5th gear should get the same steady state fuel economy as a 4.10 truck in 6th gear as the overall effective gear ratios for both trucks are the same as evidenced by the 1750 RPM engine speed @ 65 MPH.
Rusty
